At this point, you can’t talk about the Columbus Crew without talking about Cucho.
The 24-year-old has scored in five of his last six games and continues to spearhead the best attack in MLS. Cucho is mobile, he’s technical, he’s skilled enough to create his own shot, and he’s smart enough to find space off the ball to shoot himself or give a teammate a quality chance. According to American Soccer Analysis, Cucho led all MLS players in the regular season in goals added, a metric that measures the value of a player’s contributions on the ball.
With HoustonIt is Héctor Herrera, Cucho is the only player in the top 10 to earn a positive rating in all six added goals categories. This illustrates his well-rounded skillset in areas such as dribbling, passing, receiving, and even defense. With a moment of individual genius or as part of a team-wide offensive move, Cucho is entirely capable of winning this game for Columbus.
FC Cincinnati’s back three will try to press him and prevent the Colombian international from finding space to turn around and face forward. But truly stopping Cucho for an entire match is almost impossible.
